656 Beagle

656 Beagle, provisional designation 1908 BU, is an asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 60 kilometers (37 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 22 January 1908, by German astronomer August Kopff at the Heidelberg Observatory.[1] It is the principal body and namesake of the small Beagle cluster located within the Themis family.[5] The C-type asteroid is likely highly elongated and has a rotation period of 7.0 hours.[7] It was named for Charles Darwin's ship, HMS Beagle.[3]

656 Beagle
Discovery [1]
Discovered byA. Kopff
Discovery siteHeidelberg Obs.
Discovery date22 January 1908
Designations
(656) Beagle
Pronunciation/ˈbiːɡəl/[2]
Named after
HMS Beagle [3]
(Darwin's ship)
1908 BU · 1917 Sed
1954 HJ
main-belt [1][4] · (outer)
Themis [5] · Beagle [5]
Orbital characteristics [4]
Epoch 23 March 2018 (JD 2458200.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc109.90 yr (40,141 d)
Aphelion3.5722 AU
Perihelion2.7270 AU
3.1496 AU
Eccentricity0.1342
5.59 yr (2,042 d)
201.29°
0° 10m 34.68s / day
Inclination0.5165°
184.28°
330.81°
Physical characteristics
Mean diameter
62.60±0.51 km[6]
7.035±0.003 h[7]
0.045±0.005[6]
C (SDSS-MOC)[8]
10.00[4]

    Orbit and classification

    Beagle is the principal body and namesake of the Beagle cluster (620),[5] a small asteroid family of less than 150 known members, located within the much larger Themis family (602) of carbonaceous asteroids, which is named after 24 Themis.[9] It orbits the Sun in the outer main-belt at a distance of 2.7–3.6 AU once every 5 years and 7 months (2,042 days; semi-major axis of 3.15 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.13 and an inclination of 1° with respect to the ecliptic.[4]

    Naming

    This minor planet was named after HMS Beagle, with which naturalist Charles Darwin sailed around the world from 1831 to 1836. The official naming citation was mentioned in The Names of the Minor Planets by Paul Herget in 1955 (H 68).[3]

    Physical characteristics

    In the SDSS-based taxonomy, Beagle is a carbonaceous C-type asteroid,[8] in line with the overall spectral type of the Beagle and Themis family.[9]: 23 

    Rotation period

    In April 2004, a rotational lightcurve of Beagle was obtained from photometric observations by John Menke at the Menke Observatory. Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of 7.035±0.003 hours with a very high brightness amplitude of 1.2 magnitude, indicative of a non-spherical, elongated shape (U=3).[7]

    Diameter and albedo

    According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Beagle measures 62.6 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.045.[6] The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link adopts the SIMPS albedo of 0.0625 and a diameter of 53.17 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 10.0.[7]

    References
    1. "656 Beagle (1908 BU)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
    2. "beagle". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
    3. Schmadel, Lutz D. (2007). "(656) Beagle". Dictionary of Minor Planet Names. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 65. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_657. ISBN 978-3-540-00238-3.
    4. "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 656 Beagle (1908 BU)" (2017-12-16 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
    5. "Asteroid 656 Beagle". Small Bodies Data Ferret. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
    6. Masiero, Joseph R.; Grav, T.; Mainzer, A. K.; Nugent, C. R.; Bauer, J. M.; Stevenson, R.; et al. (August 2014). "Main-belt Asteroids with WISE/NEOWISE: Near-infrared Albedos". The Astrophysical Journal. 791 (2): 11. arXiv:1406.6645. Bibcode:2014ApJ...791..121M. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/791/2/121.
    7. "LCDB Data for (656) Beagle". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved 12 July 2018.
    8. Carvano, J. M.; Hasselmann, P. H.; Lazzaro, D.; Mothé-Diniz, T. (February 2010). "SDSS-based taxonomic classification and orbital distribution of main belt asteroids". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 510: 12. Bibcode:2010A&A...510A..43C. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/200913322. Retrieved 30 October 2019. (PDS data set)
    9. Nesvorný, D.; Broz, M.; Carruba, V. (December 2014). "Identification and Dynamical Properties of Asteroid Families". Asteroids IV. pp. 297–321. arXiv:1502.01628. Bibcode:2015aste.book..297N. doi:10.2458/azu_uapress_9780816532131-ch016. ISBN 9780816532131.

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